Odium
by AbFab
Summary: A darker story. A dead serial killer seems to be murdering again. Or is it a copycat killer? Hiding somewhere in the woods he lurks Mulder and Scully into a deadly game they might not survive this time!
1. In the forest

Title: Odium  
Author: AbFab  
Rating: R ( M )  
Disclaimer: Mine. Mine. Mine. ( Shut up seagulls, we gotta find Nemo! ) Mulder and Suclly belong to Chris Carter - the God of unfinished mystery plots ;)  
Summary: A darker story. A dead serial killer seems to be murdering again. Or is it a copycat killer? Hiding somewhere in the woods he lurks Mulder and Scully into a deadly game they might not survive this time!  
Note: I've written that story in German, so it will take some time to translate it. Please be patient :)

_This story is dedicated to Eric Hiems! Thank you for the good time together and for your inspirational thoughts :) *Knuddeldrück*  
_

And now...ready...steady go:

**Odium**

* * *

**W**hite moonlight grazed the tree tops caressing the silver spiderwebs and reflected in the water that covered the ground like small lakes. Withered fir needles were swashed aside with a great splash as a heavy boot stepped into a puddle. It belonged to a dark figure that hasted through the forest.

" Michael! No!" A scared female voice echoed through the darkness but suddenly turned into a high-pitched scream. The girl's foot got caught in a root and she fell down a muddy slope, rolling over until her fall was stopped by a tree.

She pushed herself up on her hands and the moonlight illuminated her frightened face.

Blue eyes whose color had faded to gray after dusk stared up at a figure that had appeared on the edge of the slope.

" Why are you doing this? It's me! Jen!"

Michael Harrington, her husband for three years, just stared at her, a grotesque smile contorting his features. His eyes roamed over her body as he pulled out a pocket knife. It popped open and the sharp blade cut through the moonlight.

" It's fun, babe." He approached and Jennifer instinctively crawled backwards until her back rested against the tree. She tried to get up but screamed out in pain as her ankle gave away underneath her weight. Michael continued grinning.

" Michael, please, you're scaring me. Stop it. Please."

Tears welled up in her eyes. She pulled herself up into a kneeling position and tried to crawl away but Michael's weight pushed her body down into the mud.

" Michael is gone." He said his hands travelling up her body until they rested in her light hair. He pulled a fistful backward and ignored her sharp intake of breath.

" But does it matter?"

The moon continued drowning the forest in its silver glow. Even as the bloodcurling scream ripped the silence apart and then stopped for ever. The moon didn't care. It had shone for billions of years. Life had come and gone. Wasted. Whatsoever. Night would turn into day. Day would turn into night. A neverending circle.

__

* * *  
_DUHDUHDUHDUHDUUUUHDUUUUUUH! X Files Music..._

* * *

**D**ana Scully was wet, cold and angry. Very angry.

Her hair stuck to her forehead and her blue 'waterproof' jacket was soaked. "Mispurchase." she silently fumed and wiped away the thick raindrops that clung to her lashes.

The rain had washed away the last traces of her make up and she knew her freckles would be all over the place. The weather forecast had promised a warm and dry spring, instead they were caught in the middle of a typhoon-like rainstorm. Usually that didn't matter a lot since they investigated their cases in dry and climated rooms. Even if the radiator in their office didn't work it was never as cold as it was now. And they only had started backpacking a day ago.

Scully was so consumed in her thoughts that she didn't watch out for her steps and suddenly lost balance on the slippery ground. If it hadn't been for a strong pair of arms she would have definitely fallen face first into a large puddle. Not that it would have mattered. Could it have gotten any wetter?

" Admit it, Scully. It's hot and you needed a refreshment." He partner grinned and pushed her back into an upright position.

She turned around and her expression wavered between gratitude and fury.

" Mulder. It's wet. I am cold. And we are in the middle of a forest hunting for...what are we hunting for anyway?"

She wiped a drippingly wet strand of hair out of her face and thankfully missed her partner's amused glance. She looked small and he felt the urge to protect her, not that he would ever said that out loud. He valued his life.

" Mulder?" She still stared at him questioningly.

" I am still not sure, Scully. I've been continuously thinking about Rosenberg's theory, but it doesn't make sense."

She looked up at him, shook her head in frustration and walked on. Mulder's gaze followed her, while his thoughts drifted off.

* * *

**2 days earlier, Washington DC**

* * *

" **M**orning, Mulder!" Mulder lifted his eyes from one of the thousand files spread on his desk and smiled at his partner. She wore blue today and he decided that 'today' was a good day.

" Hey!" She smiled back and then looked questioningly at the paper in his hands.

" What are you up to?"

" Doing research."

Scully sat on a chair, folded her hands in her lap and watched him patiently.  
" Okay...are you going to fill me in or do you want me to guess?"

" Now THAT would be fun." Mulder grinned and handed her the file. He watched her gaze travel over the photos. Her right eyebrow arched up and her face turned a lighter shade of pale.

" Oh my...when...hold on. Mulder this case was closed in 1986!" She said and then looked up at him. " Why am I looking at a case that has been closed for more than a decade?"

He grinned and watched her purse her lips. Now that was the part she was probably not going to like.

" Because I think our new case might be connected to this one." He pulled out a few of the files and showed Scully some of the pictures.

Black and white photos never hid the cruelty of death. In contrary. They somehow illuminated the contrast of dark blood against pale skin. Scully squinted her eyes and tilted the picture to one side.

" Odium." She read. The word was carved into the flesh of the girl's thigh. "Help me out. My Latin is a bit rusty."

Mulder grinned, but grew serious again after a split second: " I had to look it up as well. It means hatred." He showed her another photo.

Scully swallowed. Again the word Odium was carved into the corpse. This time the woman's back was slashed open. Blood was splattered everywhere.

Mulder handed her a few more pictures.  
" All in all 12 victims. 10 women. 2 men. No relation to each other."

" But the case was closed?" Scully asked again.

" Yes. Jamie Richardson was caught right after he had killed his last victim. He was sentenced to death and died on the electrical chair two years ago."

" So why are you interested in it? What's the connection?" Scully couldn't hide the disgust in her voice, her eyes were still fixed on one of the victims. A woman whose face had lost all beauty in death.

" Because the killings didn't stop afterwards."

" After his imprisonment?"

" No, after his death."

'There it goes.' Mulder thought watching Scullys eyebrow shoot up again.

**  
*** * *  
**TBC**

Please review...I'm begging you :)


	2. Evidence

_Note: I have no clue about the Glacier National Park. Never been there! I just borrowed it and used its name for my story. If there's anybody from Montana: I'm sorry!_

**Thanks for the lovely feedback, guys :D  
**

" **S**o, you are suggesting that the ghost of Jamie Richardson is out there somewhere continuing the murders?" Scully asked him, lips pursed and arms crossed infront of her chest.

Mulder gave her an astonished look.

" Precisely. You never cease to amaze me, Scully."

Her grin never quite reached her eyes as she shook her head silently and then began her tirade.

" Mulder, you can't possibly believe that! This killer is as dead as a church mouse. Fortunately. He must have had accomplices who now continue murdering for him!"

Mulder crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back in his swivel chair as though her arguments were a new kind of entertainment program. His personal Oprah. Scully stopped and glared at him. " What? "

Mulder grinned and then pointed his index finger at her.

" I knew exactly what you were about to say. Didn't come up with a dead church mouse though. But the other part was like a Déja Vu."

Her eyes sparkled dangerously so he decided to stop teasing her. He sat upright in his chair and then pulled out another stack of photos from a different folder.

No murders this time, just a few family pictures. A blonde woman and a dark haired man. The same blonde woman and a blonde man. All three of them together on another picture.

" John Devlin." Mulder pointed at the blonde man from the second picture. " And his sister Jennifer, married to Michael Harrington." His fingers wandered to the woman and then came to rest on the dark haired guy. " All three of them vanished without a trace about 4 days ago when hiking through the Glacier National Park, Montana."

Scully was completely lost now. She stared at the pictures that were taken in some sunny park.

" Mulder – I can't follow you."

He nodded and then took a deep breath.

" Okay, this going to be confusing, but try to stay with me. John Devlin... " Again he pointed at the blonde men who had a scar running up his left cheek as Scully noted "...lost his wife to the Odium murders."

Mulder pulled out yet another photo from one of the other two folders and showed her the picture of a female corpse that had the word Odium slashed into her stomach.

" Maureen Devlin. She was killed right infront of her husband's eyes about 10 months ago. According to the file, they were out watching a movie and were attacked when walking home. John Devlin was knocked out and regained conciousness after his wife was murdered. He managed to attack and kill the guy with his own weapon. And now the curious part: The murderer's name happened to be Fred Bramson, who was one of Richardson's executioners."

Scully blinked slowly and knitted her eyebrows.

" Okay, let me get this straight...Richardson's executioner killed the wife of the man who is now missing. And you think this is somehow linked."

" Let's call it a hunch, Scully."

" Mulder, this is insane. You know that."

" That's what makes it so special."

They discussed it for a few more hours but neither of them changed their opinion. Scully couldn't see the connection and thought it was crazy to investigate this case. Mulder on the other hand couldn't understand why Scully wouldn't see the obvious: The murders had continued after Richardson's death. The 'copycat killer' was murdered and now his murderer was missing in the woods. Obviously Richardson wasn't dead after all. Sometimes Scully was too blind to see the truth. _And they call me spooky..._he thought.****

***  
current time, in the forest:

Mulder shook his head to get back to reality and watched Scully meet up with their fellow agents from the Browning Office in Montana, who were walking infront of them. Tony Rosenberg and Jolene Saunders were pleasant company, he had to admit. Neither of them cared about his reputation which was nice for a change. They also seemed to be open to 'spacier' approaches, especially Rosenberg who seemed to be intend on keeping his brilliant mind hidden behind a mask of dry callousness. His theory though was not unlike Scully's: the three hikers probably simply got lost and there was no connection to the Odium killings whatsoever. It was merely a coincidence, that John Devlin was the widower of one of the victims. Period.

They were also accompanied by Al Morrison, a local park ranger. He led them along a muddy track through a densly wooded area of the park. The Harringtons were experienced hikers who had taken this tour for several years now heading through a more abandoned area to a small cabin close to a lake. Mulder had pointed that fact out to his partner and also to Rosenberg. How could three hikers get lost on a tour they were so familiar with??

After a few minutes the dense canopy of branches thinned out and they reached a wide clearing.

The grass was lush and glittered with raindrops. Mulder looked up at the sky. Huge gray clouds annunciated more rain and right at that moment it started to come down in buckets. He shuddered and tried to pull his jacket closer to his body. But that was of course no use since all layers of his clothes were drenched. He looked at his partner whose teeth were chattering. Her hair was plastered against her pale skin and she shot him a reproachful glance as if saying: It's your fault, Mulder, all YOUR fault.

Morrison pulled out a map which was wrapped in plastic so it wouldn't get wet. They hunched over it.

" They probably went that way." he announced in his sonorous voice and showed them the direction by pointing at a narrow path straight ahead of them.

" Where will it lead us?" Saunders asked while Rosenberg just shrugged and retreated to light a cigarette.

Mulder and Scully just stared at him, while Saunders mumbled apologetically:

" He's tried to quit a thousand times, but always ended up smoking again, because people started avoiding him. He's a grouch when he's quitting." She gave them a lopsidedd grin and then called to her partner:

"C'mon Tony. Let's keep moving!"

But Rosenberg didn't respond. He just stared at something on the ground infront of him, absently sucking on his cigarette. He bent down and then called:

" You better come here!"

They all ran towards him and Scully kneeled down next to him, pulling a plastic bag out of her pocket. She grabbed the small silver object that lay on the ground partly covered by a stone using the bag as a kind of glove so fingerprints would remain intact. She then zipped the bag shut and showed it to her partner.

It was a Swiss army knife covered with dried blood.

" Why would the murderer leave his knife?" Rosenberg wondered staring at the blood.

" Maybe he or she accidentally dropped it." Saunders replied in an unconvinced voice.

" We don't know if there was a murder. It could be animal blood. And how do we know who the knife belongs to?" Scully interrupted.

" That's easy." Mulder stated taking the knife and turning it around. The initials J.D. were carved into the wooden holder.

"Too easy." He mumbled so only Scully could hear him. She nodded. Had somebody left the evidence on purpose? They exchanged dark gazes.

" We should fan out and check the area!" Scully said. Saunders and Rosenberg headed to the right, Mulder and Scully went to the left side of the clearing scanning the nearby bushes and trees for more evidence while Morrison remained behind to plan their route.

" So, okay, let's consider for one moment that the blood is indeed human – why would the murderer leave his knife?" Scully whispered while pushing branches aside.

" Maybe he wants to get caught." Mulder answered. " Or he wants to play with us."

Both agents were unaware of a dark figure that was looking at them from one of the tree tops.  
The shadow watched them head toward one of the corpses, grinned amused by their unawareness and retreated back into the darkness of the dense branches heading toward the clearing. This was going to be so much fun.****

TBC****

Please review...please please please!! I really appreciate it :)


	3. Meet the Harringtons

**Note: If you are squeamish don't read any further…gory stuff is coming up here… ( R )  
Sorry it took me quite a while to update. Don't mind my grammer, I'm having a tough time thinking in English these days ;)**

* * *

Al Morrison was pretty fond of his job. He enjoyed being outside hiking through seemingly untouched nature and roughing it for awhile. He didn't mind rain, snow nor thunderstorms as long as he was able to taste fresh air. His job as a park ranger was a bliss and everything he ever wanted to do. Getting paid for being outside…awesome. His newest assignment was an easy one: All he had to do was lead the agents towards the cabin showing them possible routes the missing could have taken. He prayed that the FBI would find them alive. For their sake and his own.

Yes, Al Morrison was a simple man and he had no problem admitting it. He hated seeing blood.

Though he often came across dead animals it wasn't exactly his dream to find mutilated human bodies. A shudder went down his spine. The cold rain had drenched his clothes, but the freezing feeling originated from something else. Something creepy. He shrugged the feeling off and concentrated on the map again musing about possible routes. His gaze was so intensely focused on the small lines and dots that he was totally unaware about his surroundings.

Usually the suspicious rustling of branches would have caught his attention for he knew this forest and its noises like the back of his hand. But since multitasking was not one of his strengths he didn't know what had happened until it was too late. Al Morrison's eyes widened in shock and a gurgled scream escaped his throat. The map slid from his suddenly numb fingers and fell to the ground.

* * *

Mulder and Scully meanwhile were still unsuspectingly heading towards the body that hung like a ragdoll in the branches of a bush.

"I am pretty sure the murderer left the knife to get our attention." Mulder said looking down at his partner who was fighting to keep up with him.

" J.D. doesn't necessarily have to stand for John Devlin." Scully reminded him but privily agreed with Mulder. "We shouldn't draw any conclusions until we find a body…"

She stopped dead in her tracks staring at the grotesque scene in front of her.

"Okay, am I allowed to draw conclusions now?" Mulder asked his face pale with disgust.

In front of them, bizarrely displayed, laid the body of Jennifer Harrington. Blonde bloody hair caught like spider webs in the thorns and branches of the bush, blue unseeing eyes staring at them.

He gulped and looked at Scully who had also turned white as a sheet.

Jennifer's body had turned into a bluish white color that emphasized the bloody word that was

slashed into her chest even more: O D I U M. Her clothes were ripped and lay scattered around her equally torn body.

"Oh my God." Scully swallowed. Though she wasn't exactly tender-hearted, she felt like vomiting. The brutality of the murder shocked both agents.

" Her body looks like the other Odium-victims, Scully." Mulder said.

She tore her eyes away from the corpse and looked at him:  
" That doesn't prove she was killed by a ghost!"

"AGENT MULDER! AGENT SCULLY!" Rosenberg's and Saunders' voices seemed to rip the air apart and echoed through the forest. Both looked at each other alarmed and then ran toward the voices of their colleagues.

Saunders, Rosenberg and Morrison were rooted to the spot on the left side of the clearing staring up a tree. Mulder and Scully followed their gazes and thus found the second body of that day.

"That's Michael Harrington!" Saunders stated flatly. It was indeed. His body lay sprawled on a thick branch, arms and legs dangling down. "We need to get him down!"

Since Mulder was the sportiest of them all, they agreed he would climb up and push the body down. The three remaining agents and the ranger took a few steps backwards and watched the corpse hit the ground with a dull thud.

Scully immediately kneeled next to it, while Mulder swung himself downwards in a swift motion.

"Strange." She stated, both eyebrows rising up this time.

"What?"

"His body is still warm. He can't be dead for more than 10 minutes. How is that possible?"

She looked at Mulder wide-eyed, but he just shook his head helplessly.

"I have no idea. Can you determine what killed him? Any injuries?"

Scully checked Harrington's head, his eyes, neck, anything that allowed her to draw a conclusion of his death but there was nothing but a bloody lump on the side of his head.

" His head injury wasn't severe enough to cause serious damage. It might have rendered him unconscious but I doubt it killed him!"

She said, still flabbergasted, her hand wandering over the rest of his upper torso to check for other injuries. She stopped, frowned and then pulled a piece of paper out of one of Harrington's pockets. She handed it to Mulder who immediately unfolded it reading out loud:

" C U at the cabin! J." Was written in bloody scribbles across the paper.

" Where does all the blood...?" Scully started but then gasped as she opened Harrington's jacket.

" Okay – at least now we know HOW he died. " Mulder gulped and stared at the stab wound right above Harrington's heart. "But how did his corpse get up there?"

" I just found him like that!" Morrison was the first to answer Mulder's question. The other agents were just helplessly staring up the tree. "You were leaving in different directions and I wanted to check the map, then I heard like a rustling. So naturally I turned around and that's when I saw him hanging there."

Mulder noticed the slight tremble in Morrison's voice and the paleness of his face.  
" Did you see anybody else?"

Morrison shook his head and mutely stared at the agent.

"So what's the theory?" Rosenberg asked, lightening a cigarette nervously. "Does it really make sense that somebody put the body up there?"  
" He might be around hiding somewhere..." Saunders added looking around with wide eyes.

"That's not all..." Mulder said, his eyes meeting Scully's. "We found another body!"

* * *

**TBC - r&r please...I know you want to... ;) Suggestions, feedback, constructive criticism...all welcome :D  
**


	4. Night

**Note: Hey there, i also made a dustjacket for this story...**

**Here's the direct link to it ( hm, ffnet doesn't allow me to put a hyperlink here... ):** http : / / img405 . imageshack . us / img405 / 1125 / odium . jpg - **just erase the free spaces**

**T**wo hours passed in which they unsuccessfully searched the area for the killer, checked the second body again and called the local authorities to get the corpses to a morgue. They closed off the area with tape and covered the bodies with blankets which they had brought just for that sad case. Considering that they would only have about two more hours of sunlight, they decided to continue their hiking and investigation without waiting for anyone.  
They followed Morrison's lead which was taking them up a hill and gave them a spectacular view over the whole area: A thick blanket of trees that covered hills, mountains with white snowy tops, lakes in the luscious green valleys. If it hadn't been for the murders, it would have almost been like a vacation. The skies had cleared up a bit, but the dampness still hung heavily in the air..

Scully stopped for a minute to catch her breath and to enjoy the view. Her back was aching from the heavy backpack she was carrying around and she was not looking very forward to sleeping in a tent, especially with a murderer running free and watching them.  
She sighed and turned toward the others as she heard Morrison say:

"I think we'll camp right over there." He pointed at a small meadow that was encircled by trees and large rocks. "We'll be protected against wind and weather."

It took them less than 15 minutes to build up their tents and even less time to collect some wood for a small fire. The sun had set by the time they were gathered around the campfire, the purple and pink of the sky slowly melting into a dark grey. The last remaining clouds drifted apart revealing the moon and the first sparkling stars. It was a beautiful night, surprising and refreshing after a long rainy day.

They silently ate their food, each one of them too exhausted to discuss the events. Rosenberg lit a cigarette, which prompted Mulder to speak up:

"How many packs did you bring?"

"More than enough, looks like I'm going to need them." He sucked greedily on the cancer stick and blew the smoke out watching it curl into thin air. "So, do you think the killer is watching us right now?"

They all stared at him so he added quickly:  
"I mean, we should take proper precautions. He killed while we were around and we didn't notice a thing..."

"It's creepy." Saunders added and poked a stick into the fire." How could we all have missed him? I'm assuming it's a 'him'."

They had tried to question Morrison again after they hadn't found anybody around but he had insisted on seeing nothing. The ranger now sat with his back against a tree trunk staring at the fire.

"We had just been away for a few minutes..." Mulder said. "How could someone have lifted a body up there in that time?"

"Maybe Harrington wasn't dead when he went up the tree. Maybe he was killed on the tree." Scully suggested earning a critical stare from Morrison.

"Don't you think I would have seen and HEARD someone being killed right above me?" His eyes met hers and she saw an angry sparkle in them. And something else she couldn't identify.

"No one is accusing you of anything, Mr. Morrison." She replied calmly.

Morrison nodded but didn't seem appeased at all. He continued staring at Scully who was starting to feel extremely uncomfortable. Mulder felt her unease and said quickly:  
"The killer left us a message. We shouldn't forget that. He wants us to come to the cabin."

"The same cabin the victims were heading to?" Saunders asked.

"Obviously." Rosenberg answered putting out his cigarette. "I think we should keep watch tonight. Just in case he's out here somewhere. I doubt he'll be waiting at the cabin."

His partner agreed. "Let's take shifts then. We take the first half of the night, Mulder and Scully the second. Is that okay?"

"What about me?" Morrison intervened, but then just shrugged. "I guess you FBI folks will call me if you need me." He got up and went to his tent. Before he crawled in he looked over his shoulder and said: "Tomorrow will be even more exhausting then today. Lots of hills."

The four agents nodded and then decided to call it a night. Mulder and Scully crawled into their tents while the two Montana agents stayed up.

* * *

Scully felt like she just had nodded off when a pair of hands gently shook her shoulder.  
"Hey sleepyhead, get up. Scully! It's our turn."

Scully grunted. She was tired and her bones ached. She tried to bury her face in the sleeping bag but Mulder continued shaking her:  
"Rise and shine!"

She finally gave up and opened her eyes. It was dark but Mulder's face was illuminated by the weak beam of his flash light. He looked as tired as she felt, so she finally pulled herself together and sat up.

"Saunders and Rosenberg just went to bed." Mulder told her, while he crawled out of the sleeping bag to give her some time to get ready.

She quickly combed her hair and then followed Mulder who was now sitting next to the fire looking up at her.

"We should definitely insist on a night shift bonus."

Scully was too tired to comment and just dropped down next to him. She was freezing and shaking from tiredness, so she held her hands close to the fire.  
She inched a bit closer to Mulder who pretended he didn't notice.  
Time passed while nothing happened. Orange sparks danced above the fire and an owl was hooting close by. Scully tried to fight weariness, but after a while she just dozed off again. Her head fell against Mulder's shoulder. The agent just raised his eyebrows and then continued staring into the fire.

The previous day had been exhausting and the picture of Jennifer Harrington's cruelly displayed body still haunted his mind. He had no clue how Michael's body had ended up on the tree, but he was sure Morrison was somehow connected to it. He remembered the way the ranger had glared at Scully earlier and decided to keep an eye on him. Though they were assured before the trip that Morrison was one of the best, they didn't know him very well. There hadn't been much time to talk – so after all he could somehow be involved in the case. The only thing they could do was trust each other. And while Mulder didn't find it hard to trust Rosenberg and Saunders he had a hard time seeing through Morrison facade. He had seemed normal before the camp fire though.  
Mulder shrugged and Scully mumbled something unintelligible, unconsciously trying to find a more comfortable position. He looked at her and carefully brushed a stray strand out of her face.

* * *

While Mulder was enjoying that rare time of closeness to his partner he was completely oblivious to the pair of steel gray watching them. The killer smirked. He would wait until daylight before he would strike again. These two FBI agents seemed rather close, it would be a shame not to kill one of them in front of the other.

**TBC**  
**... and again I am begging you for feedback. It always makes my day :D**


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